FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BREAST MILK - PAGE 3

Of all the participants at the Mother's Milk Club, the one who looks least likely to be an expert is Henry Hale. It's not his age (25) or size (burly) -- a jarring contrast to the fragile patients in the Rush University Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There's also that little detail about gender. "Sometimes when men hear what I do, they think that I get to be around breasts all day," he said. "But it's not like that. It's about supporting the mother of your child."

By Michael Helfgot and Melissa Silverberg, Special to the Tribune | August 31, 2011

Michelle Mabry had difficulty producing enough milk for her first son. So when she became pregnant with twins last year, she worried she would have to rely on formula to feed them. A registered nurse, Mabry had heard about ads to buy breast milk online, but she was leery. "I knew there were programs to help you get it, but they're not regulated," she said. "Those kind of things make you nervous. " When her twins were born 13 weeks early at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge in April, Mabry didn't have to choose between using formula or getting donated breast milk that she feared wasn't properly screened.

By Marnell Jameson, Tribune Newspapers: Special to the Los Angeles Times | May 23, 2005

Breast milk is the most natural food on Earth and--some would argue--the most essential for a baby's health. Still, it isn't something every woman can produce. For those who can't, the quest to obtain it can become a mission. They spend hours a day finding donors. They surf the Internet, go to classes where new moms congregate, visit chat rooms and seek referrals from lactation consultants--all to find a nursing mother who is producing too much of a good thing and has some to spare.

By From American Health Magazine. (copyright) 1985 American Health Magazine-Washington Post Writers Group | November 20, 1985

If new parents fret before a baby is born, those worries are only the beginning. Once the child is actually there, kicking, crying and demanding to be fed, the question is inescapable: What do you feed him? Is breast milk best, or is the bottle just as good? When teeth sprout and the child eats "real" food, how much should you worry about giving him too much salt? Too much fat? As always, good nutrition involves personal choice. But there are guidelines for giving your child the best nutritional odds.

If I could sum up my breastfeeding ordeal in one image, it would be me sitting in a hospital bed with one of my newborn sons cradled in my arms. Above me hovers the lactation consultant, her complexion dewy, her curls buoyant. She clearly hasn't endured a 38-week twin pregnancy - that's 14 pounds of baby, baby - followed by a Caesarean and 48 hours of unsuccessful breastfeeding, and if she's trying to hide her impatience with my mental and physical state, she's not succeeding. I was supposed to leave the hospital an hour ago, but I can't go, in the opinion of the lactation consultant, because, up to this point, I've done just about everything wrong.

I was not able to breast-feed my child. I met with lactation consultants. My daughter simply would not latch. This doesn't make me a bad mother. My formula-fed 16-month-old is a very bright, active child who has not had ear infections or any other health concerns that breast milk is supposed to guard against. She is 100 percent perfect and I don't see how breast milk could possibly have made her more so.

By Marisa Salcines, Manager of communications, International Formula Council | June 22, 2006

As an industry, we agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other leading medical organizations that breast milk is the best form of infant nutrition. Infant formula is not in competition with breast milk--breast milk is the gold standard of optimal infant nutrition and cannot be replicated. Infant formula was developed to address a critical need for a safe and nutritious alternative when breast milk is not available or not chosen. There seems to be confusion regarding the labeling of infant formula products.

Part 4 of a Tribune investigation finds that a former U.S. air bases in Vietnam remain highly polluted by defoliants, but the U.S. has done little to clean up the sites it contaminated during the war. Complete coverage > > When a small Canadian environmental firm started collecting soil samples on a former U.S. air base in a remote Vietnam valley, Thomas Boivin and other scientists were skeptical they'd find evidence proving herbicides used...

Q. Is it safe to take the pill while breast-feeding? I am wondering whether the hormones will affect the baby. A. There are two kinds of oral contraceptives: the combination pill which contains estrogen and progestin, and the minipill, which contains only progestin. Combination pills have been found to reduce the volume and protein content of breast milk in some women-and the hormones have been found in small amounts in the breast milk. For these reasons, it is not recommended for lactating women.

A London council has confiscated supplies of breast milk ice cream from a specialty parlor that launched the new variety in the British capital last week on concerns that the frozen treat might spread viruses. Westminster Council said it had visited the Icecreamists restaurant in London's Covent Garden and removed all ice cream containing breast milk for testing after being contacted by members of the public and the Food Standards Agency. "Selling foodstuffs made from another person's bodily fluids can lead to viruses being passed on and in this case, potentially hepatitis," said Brian Connell, Westminster Council's Cabinet member for business.